Olympia pursues housing grant to increase low-income homeownership opportunities

Olympia aims to secure a $10-million grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to increase homeownership opportunities for low-income individuals.

Jacinda Steltjes, the city’s Affordable Housing Program manager, presented the Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) grants proposal, focusing on removing barriers to homeownership for first-time homebuyers with incomes at or below 80% of area median income (AMI).

The proposal has three activities to increase homeownership:

Providing capacity building and administrative funds to Thurston Housing Land Trust (THLT).

A $5 million grant request for capital funding to acquire property for production or preservation of homeownership housing.

According to Steltjes, the Thurston Housing Land Trust was established in 2018 to help increase affordable homeownership. The land trust model involves the organization purchasing land, while homebuyers purchase the homes and receive a long-term lease on the land. "This deepens affordability for homebuyers."

Steltjes noted that Thurston Housing Land Trust is one of 29 land trusts in Washington. The grant proposal requests $1.5 million to fund the land trust for community outreach, strategic planning, operations, and increasing its portfolio by 20 affordable homes over the six-year grant period.

Creating and carrying out a plan to implement recommendations emerging from the Affordable Homeownership Research Study.

A $2.5 million grant request to implement recommendations from an Affordable Homeownership Research study.

The presentation discussed a proposed $2.5 million implementation plan for the city's ongoing affordable housing research study.

In the proposal, Steltjes said they are focusing on homebuyer counseling and downpayment assistance; based on the initial input and close contact with the consultant conducting the study.

She said they aim to educate first-time homebuyers about the home purchasing process and alleviate barriers to homeownership. They plan to collaborate with local community-based organizations and lenders to offer comprehensive services tailored to the needs of households, especially those facing financial limitations.

The city also intends to partner with the Washington State Housing Finance Commission and establish its program to provide additional funding opportunities, aligning with the Covenant Homeownership Act recently passed in Washington State.

Using capital funding to produce and preserve housing for homeownership.

The grant proposal presents three activities, focusing on supporting and removing barriers to homeownership. One is capacity-building support for …

In the grant proposal, Steltjes said they requested $5 million in capital funding to acquire properties.

She stated in her presentation that properties acquired through capital funding would primarily be targeted within Olympia City limits. However, she noted that regional opportunities in Thurston County could also be considered. Any regional projects would be facilitated through the Regional Housing Council.

Olympia is submitting the grant proposal as a "multi-jurisdictional entity," allowing them to work throughout Thurston County. The city would take the lead administration role of the program.

The city is proposing to take a similar approach to how they have taken with other land acquisitions in purchasing and partnering with developers to develop and sell for a low cost in return for long-term affordability. An example of this approach is Habitat for Humanity, which is building over 100 homeownership units at 3900 Boulevard.

Other potential uses of the funding include support for manufactured home parks, critical home repairs, or helping renters purchase homes if their landlord decides to sell.

The capital funding is estimated to produce 60-100 new affordable homeownership units over the six-year grant period.

Steltjes added that the HUD grant programs allow funding to cover administrative costs of managing the program.

The city is requesting $1 million for administration. The amount would allow an additional staff person to oversee the affordable housing activities outlined in the proposal.

This position's key responsibilities would be overseeing the affordable housing implementation plan, conducting required environmental reviews and underwriting for projects, managing contracts with partner organizations, and reporting to HUD by tracking outputs and outcomes over the six-year grant period.

The city council opened a public hearing for the PRO Housing grant proposal on Tuesday. No community members participated in the public process. The deadline for submission of grant application is on November 6.

The grant is a one-time funding, and awards are between $1 million and $10 million.

The period in which the funds could be expended is January 2024 through September 2029.